Everything you need to know about field marketing

What is field marketing?

Field marketing is becoming more popular for companies in various industries. From food and beverage to consumer goods. It’s a tool that can be used to showcase latest products or services in a face to face environment with consumers. Furthermore companies recognise the importance of having brand ambassadors and reps on the ‘front line’ introducing the public to new innovations or delicious treats. This is done in the ‘field’; around shopping centers and in retail hot spots, expos and events, university campus’ and sport stadiums to name a few. Most campaign activities focus on customer facing roles including product demonstrations, direct selling and street training teams. However not all field marketing is consumer facing such as auditing and merchandising.

Goals and outcomes of field marketing will differ from company to company. Some campaigns are designed to increase brand awareness or sales. While others may be to collect data and feedback about the product and its market. At Splatter we have all the tools necessary for the clients desired outcome to be achieved

What a field marketing team looks like.

For successful field marketing campaigns companies might have dedicated teams within their business whose task it is to be creative and manage field marketing initiatives. However agencies are also on hand to support a campaign. By offering staff, management and infrastructure the client can focus on the more creative aspect of the campaign.

A field marketing agency tends to work in territories operating with reps within their own regions. Often overlooked by regional or national managers depending on the scale of the team. Although territory management is more important for wide scale national distributing business, smaller brands are recognising the importance of managing promotions on a more local scale using teams to promote, audit and sell in their regions.

What can field marketing do for your business?

1. Product demonstrations

As mentioned already, demo days are a popular tool of field marketing. These campaigns can stretch from as little as one week to 6 months however some are continuous and full time. For consumer goods this would mean having brand representatives in retail stores and around shopping centers, events or road shows. Finally The Brand Ambassadors are engaging with the consumer and showing them how the product or service works. This is important as it allows a potential buyer to get hands on experience and a feel of ownership of the product; most importantly the rep is also on hand to answers any questions the customer may have. Although a sell is great the main aim of a demo campaign is brand awareness.

Food and beverage take a slightly differently approach. By handing out free samples and one off deals of their product around retail and events, consumers are getting a taste of the brands latest delicious treats and at the same time everyone loves free food! Sampling is a fun activation and is effective when bringing new products to the high street.

Learn more about product demonstrations by checking out our in depth guide here.

2. Direct selling

Much like product demonstrations these campaigns have brand reps or ambassadors at the center of them. The difference is it’s more about the selling of the product. Sales rep might have targets to adhere to. Finally these campaigns are super effective during peak times when the difference in a sale or not can be having a knowledgeable brand rep in store.

3. Retail audits and merchandising

Auditing takes the reps out off the front line and away from the consumer. Auditing teams are used by marketers to monitor traditional marketing strategies that they put in place across retail. Most of all audits ensure that the brand is represented as it should be on shelves and around retail hot spots. Examples are; checking POS is as it should be across the territories, promotions advertised and running and paid spaces such as gondolas are set up. The data collected from the teams can be useful for the marketers to negotiate better future deals. In addition it also allows for mistakes to be rectified there and then by the reps. Splatter offer a live system that can be monitored by the client in real team meaning that red flags in the field can be dealt with instantaneously

4. Guerrilla marketing

When it comes to guerrilla marketing the gloves are off. They are usually low budget campaigns but with the right imagination and ideas they offer up some unprecedented results. Furthermore the term ‘Guerrilla Marketing’ itself is used to refer to campaigns that surprise consumers in locations and ways they might not usually expect. For that reason the experience remains with the consumer.

5. Product Sampling

To learn more about sampling work and what that involves view our guide here.

Who does what?

Field Marketing Rep:

These guys and girls are the cream of the crop, they are masters of everything. Sometimes they may be conducting training sessions on major proportion for a retailers whole selling team. Another role they find themselves in are in is in the field collecting data and conducted audits. Finally everything in between including sales, merchandising, and working at events. Their primary concern is to drive brand awareness across their region through face to face with consumer and staff on a retail level.

Read about what being a field marketing rep is all about here.

Field Marketing Manager:

The field manager’s role is to oversee the field reps; it is their duty to ensure the field marketing campaigns achieves the clients intended goal. As the manager of all the region, they hold the responsibility of ensuring that all reps are trained and directed towards the client’s goals. In addition the field marketing manager will work closely with the clients marketing executives to align the marketing objectives and goals with team in the field. Finally they will then report the findings and feedback from the team.

Read more about what being a field marketing manager entails here.

Brand Ambassador/Brand Rep

As we know by now the BA role is one of the most crucial in field marketing. Ultimately they are usually supplied by the marketing agency and are tasked with promoting and representing the client’s brand. This can work well within a University by hiring a student to represent the brand around campus; this is perfect for low budget campaigns as sometimes all it takes is giving the BA some products to show off. Some larger scale business’ use celebrities to endorse their product and services by making them the face of their brand using social media to promote to their following.

Learn about the various roles within the Field Marketing industry are by reading our guide here.

Do you need Field Marketing?

Field marketing as you have seen is a useful tool to accompany other traditional marketing strategies. For example a company might pay a huge amount of money for prime advertising spot during a major sports event. However if this is the case it is important for the brand to follow up with demos in stores. If there is a brand rep placed in store the following few days after the advertising campaign the customer is more likely to come over and ask some questions about the product.

Another reason you might need field marketing is to ensure your budget has been well spent. After investing into a large scale in-store promotion campaign you want to ensure that it is implemented to the standard agreed with the retailer. Data can be collected by auditing teams and analysed to see if the money had been well spent. Furthermore it also gives opportunity for future campaigns to implemented with higher efficiency and success.